Team Anko
by Lahmikhara
Summary: -AU- Naruto was raised by a slightly crazy old man called Uzumaki Kenamo. A Hyuuga Kinjutsu, a different team, an other Sensei and a meddling old man. Follow them as they try to fulfill their dreams and ambitions as the story unfolds.
1. Chapter 1: The Beginning

Disclaimer:

Naruto and all other stuff from the show doesn't belong to me but to some (prolly really rich by now) japanese guy whose name I can't remember that created the show. Kenamo my original character however does belong to me!

Authors' note:

I know that the real names of Naruto's parents have been revealed in the mange but since I don't read it I really can't remember nor can I really be arsed to change it to the official names: Kazama Arashi and Uzumaki Haruka where inspired by one of my favorite Naruto fanfics written by The SOC Puppet named Bloodlines. I do hope she updates soon  
I'd like to thank my beta reader Manatheron and my sister Lady Tomboy (also writers on fanfiction) for the assistance they are giving me with this story and I hope everyone enjoys it.

Anyway let's get started on the story!

* * *

****

**_Chapter_****_ 1_**

**_Prologue: The Beginning_**

Sarutobi spared a quick glance trough a passing window sighing as he saw the destruction the brutal fight outside was causing. His eyes went wide as he was forced to duck for cover as a huge piece of debris crashed into the building where he had been standing only moments before.

"_SOMETHING had to be done"._ He thought.

Thankfully the man he was about to see just might be the one to do something about it.

* * *

"You called for me, Hokage-sama?" Sarutobi asked after entering the room. 

Looking around he saw the familiar faces of his three most trusted friends. They appeared to have been having a casual conversation while waiting for him to arrive; this was ended however, the moment his presence was acknowledged. They all knew that at a time like this, the Yondaime wouldn't invite them over for a social call... 

Seeing his greatest allies and most trusted advisors gathered in his office, Arashi got up from his chair while addressing them. 

"Yes unfortunately I did my friends; please follow me. We are about to discuss vital information that we cannot risk being overheard by anyone else."

Looking over at Hiashi and Jiraiya, Sarutobi saw his own concerns reflected in their eyes. If they were going 'there' to ensure they wouldn't be overheard, it had to be something very serious indeed. Getting up they followed the Yondaime into the conference room, which was next to the office. 

The conference room was large, with a long rectangular table in the middle. The wall on the west side was filled with bookcases, the remains of a large broad window covered the east. It appeared to have been blown inward by an earlier attack.

_One could enjoy the scenery of the entire village from here_, Sarutobi reflected. The bookcases were mainly used to store reference scrolls of the meetings that took place in there. It had been used since he himself had become Hokage, he and his advisors had used it to discuss important decisions which would affect the entire village. This tradition had been kept alive when Arashi became Hokage. However, this wasn't where they were headed. 

Still following the Yondaime they silently walked to the end of the room. By the time they arrived at the portrait of a sunset on the northern wall, the tension was thick enough to cut with a knife. Walking up to it Arashi sighed, looking over through the window at his right he saw the bright flames that where a result of the fierce battle raging outside. He did not have a lot of time.

Taking a deep breath he put his hands together to form the familiar seals while shouting "Hireki no jutsu." Reacting to the Yondaime's chakra signature the portrait disappeared making room for a large oak door. Behind it was a small room with just enough space for the four of them. 

Entering, they saw the familiar sights of the room they had spent countless hours in. Here they discussed topics too important, or too dangerous, to risk being heard by outsiders. Apparently whatever Arashi had to tell them, fell into this category. They walked over to the comfortable chairs, surrounding a wooden square table in the middle of the room. Sarutobi, Hiashi and Jiraiya made themselves comfortable while waiting for the Yondaime to speak up.

"The good news is I developed a jutsu which should stop the Kyuubi". Studying their reaction to his first announcement, he saw the hope that was nearly lost, returning to their eyes. But apparently sensing his hesitation to continue, Arashi noticed a look of suspicion and concern growing on his friends faces. They really did know him to well... 

Feeling rather apprehensive about their reaction to the other part, he took another deep breath and continued: "The bad news is I won't live to tell the tale after I've used it." He looked back over at his long time friends, in order to try and gauge their reaction.

Hiashi was the first one the message seemed to get through to. In a rare show of emotion the normally calm and collected man jumped up from his chair and responded with a raised voice: "Arashi! Have you gone mad! You're the Hokage for God's sakes. We can't allow you to sacrifice your life! Think about your son! If you die as well the old man will be the only family he'll have left!"

Recovering from the shock of having Hiashi of all people lose his cool, Arashi held up his hand to motion for silence in order to explain himself. Seeing this, Hiashi looked over at Jiraiya and Sarutobi for support. His unusual tirade and rare show of emotion seemed to have shocked them into silence though. After recovering for a moment they appeared to have nothing else to add, so they just nodded in agreement in order to show they agreed.

Wiping away a tear that had formed during Hiashi's proclamation Arashi replied. "I realize your point very well, but I see no other way. The only thing I can think of to stop the Kyuubi and save the village, is a variation of the Shiki Fuujin combined with a family technique."

Noticing their confused glances at the name of the Kinjutsu he had developed a short time ago he remembered that he never told them about it and decided to elaborate a little. "Shiki Fuujin is basically a summoning technique that calls forth The God of Death. By summoning him I…-"

"You plan to do what!" Jiraiya exploded his eyes full of disbelief after hearing what his prize student was planning to do. Arashi however motioned for silence again. "Please Sensei let me explain. As I was saying, by summoning him I should be able to divide the Kyuubi's very soul from his body. Normally his soul would be devoured by the death god, but I am afraid since the Kyuubi is a daemon and therefore an immortal being, his soul cannot be consumed this way".

"So instead of consuming him as normally would have been the case, I believe that you plan to seal his soul away"? Sarutobi commented looking questioningly at the Yondaime. "Exactly," Arashi responded a bit surprised. "However since Ninetails is so powerful we will have to seal him away in a living being, an object simply would be unable to keep the Kyuubi contained". Sarutobi was thinking out loud now and Arashi decided to let him finish his musings and go from there.

"But how would the vessel survive the intrusion of something as powerful as the Kyuubi"? Sarutobi looked up questioningly at the Yondaime. "Even if the vessel was only a few days old and therefore has not completely formed his chakra coils, the sealing process would most likely destroy them faster than they could recover, unless…." Realization hit Sarutobi as a ton of bricks. "You'll use your son. Thanks to your families' bloodline techniques he would be the only one who would be able to survive the binding.

Arashi just nodded, Sarutobi was able to figure it out completely. He had always been a very smart man so he wasn't all that surprised.

"There is one thing I don't understand though Arashi." Jiraiya cut in. "Why don't you allow one of us to perform the Shiki Fuujin in your place? Every one of us in this room can perform a summoning jutsu so we should be able to learn it rather easily.

"I would never be able to ask one of you to sacrifice yourself in my place." Arashi replied. Seeing all of them about to object he continued. "Besides I will have to combine the Shiki Fuujin with one of our family techniques in order to be able to bind the Kyuubi to my son".

Sensing his friends accepted though rather reluctantly that he was right, Arashi decided to explain the details to them so everything could be arranged before it was too late.

Opening a scroll on his table he showed them the six point seal he planned on using. 

"You see this part symbolizes the cage he will be sealed in," he said pointing at the four points on the outside of the seal. "This however is where the genius part comes in." Arashi told them. 

"This point here allows Naruto to tap in the Kyuubi's chakra when he needs to. I can't think of a better way to get revenge on him for killing my wife Haruka. The powers of the most powerful daemon lord of all known history, used for good by my own legacy." Arashi grinned slightly ar this thought with his trademark mischievous twinkle lighting up his eyes. 

"The downside however is that Kyuubi will be able to use that to communicate mentally to my son through it so I included a 6th point to the seal which will seal off the 5th until Naruto finds out he is the Kyuubi's keeper.

You see this is where we have a problem, evil as the fox appears to be, I'm afraid he will corrupt my son once the seal on the link is broken and that is what I need your advice on. Do any of you know any way to prevent this from happening, or at least help my son through it?"

A long silence swept over the Yondaime's office, while the four friends where thinking of possibilities to prevent this from happening. Suddenly Jiraiya spoke up. "How about we hook him up to a nice girl? That should keep him distracted from the Kyuubi's influence!" Jiraiya snickered while thinking about how exactly this nice girl would accomplish this when he got hit over the head by Arashi.

"What did you do that for!" Jiraiya yelled at him indignantly. The Yondaime just sighed, "It's my own fault. I should've known better than to ask you about moral advice for my son's well being, sensei." he said shaking his head.

"As immoral as his ideas probably were he did give me an idea." Hiashi said shooting a glare at Jiraiya.

"There is an ancient Kinjutsu in the Hyuuga clan which was used on infants when it was decided they were going to be partners in combat, life or in both. It was used to establish a…"

Hiashi was interrupted by the door slamming open. Everyone turned to the door looking up surprised when an old man near Sarutobi's age jovially walked into the room carrying a couple of sake bottles, a backpack and a deck of poker cards. He was wearing a black shinobi outfit with an orange whirl on the shoulders and the backside, marking him as one of the Uzumaki family. The most noticeable part though was the eagle claw hanging on his left ear, half hidden by his long white hair.

Seemingly not noticing the serious atmosphere hanging around the room as a result of the meeting, the old man walked inside while putting down his backpack in a corner.

"Oi Arashi, here is the animal tooth needed for the little tyke's bonding ritual. I was trying to find a bear, but the fox tooth that ended up in my arm should be even better." He was looking over at the Yondaime with a knowing twinkle in his eyes and not for the first time Arashi was wondering about the old Uzumakis' unusual foresight.

"By the way did you guys notice a large demon fox trampling the village back there?" he said while pointing over his shoulder. 

Realizing the little amount of time they had for the meeting was over Arashi turned around facing the others. 

"Jii-san I'm afraid I have to force you out of your well deserved retirement, please take care of Konoha for me." Overwhelmed by his emotions all Sarutobi could do was nod in a silent promise to Arashi that he would do what he could to keep Konoha safe.

Seeing this he turned over to Jiraiya. "Good luck with your novels sensei I'm sure they will sell great once you finish them. Do keep them away from my son until he is old enough though." Unable to think of a good response for once Jiraiya gave Arashi a hug. "Thanks kid," he said after gaining control over his voice again.

Stepping away from his Sensei, Arashi went over to the last of his most trusted friends and his former team mate. "Hiashi make preparations for your clans Kinjutsu as soon as it's possible, I'm afraid I don't have time to hear the details but I trust you my friend." 

Hiashi looked up in Arashi's eyes for a moment seeing the despair of a man who knew he wasn't long for this world, but also the determination to do what is needed to save his people. 

He nodded in agreement hoping that using the Kinjutsu would turn out for the best. Seeing Arashi was about to say something else he turned his attention back to him. 

"Gramps I need you to get Naruto and prepare the binding ritual, and guys…. Please take care of my son." With those parting words and a single tear falling from his eye Arashi left.

"Well I guess Poker night is off for now." The old man known as Uzumaki Kenamo quickly set down his poker cards and sake bottles and left to get Naruto, an uncharacteristically serious look on his face.

* * *

"The ritual is almost prepared kid; I just need a few more minutes." Gramps said. 

Tearing his mind off of the thoughts that had kept him occupied since the earlier conversation they held, Arashi turned around. Seeing his son lying in a crib in the middle of six candles, one candle for each point in the seal, Arashi momentarily despaired. It was only brief however. He hardened his resolve for the sake of his village and even more importantly his last remaining family, and soon he was more determined then ever to go trough with it.

A note had been delivered by one of Hiashi's summon animals which showed a seventh point that had to be included in the seal in order to make the Hyuuga Kinjutsu possible, Arashi had used the necessary time to adjust the seal to clear up some questions that had been bothering him for a long time. Unfortunately each mystery solved created a dozen more, and he didn't have the time to solve them all. The information he had been given seemed mind-boggling yet somehow it still made sense. O well he didn't have…

A loud crash sounded nearby as a huge part of the wall collapsed under the might of one of the Kyuubi's tails. Arashi and Kenamo cursed at the same time when they saw how the Ninetales had penetrated the borders of the village. If there was to be any chance of defeating it before it wrecked all of their homes there was no time left to waste. Looking back at the old man he saw he would have to stall a bit since not all of the preparations had been completed yet.

"Take care of them." Was the last thing Arashi said to him before he created some distance between them and summoned the boss frog going by the name of Gamabunta.

Immediately figuring out what the fourth was planning to do he mentally wished him luck and concentrated back on finishing the preparations of the ritual, time was running out and he could not afford to make even the slightest mistake in the preparations.

* * *

Arashi was looking straight into the huge burning fierce red eyes of the giant fox and saw nothing there but raw anger and a hint of madness in its them. For a brief moment he thought he saw something else, but the anger quickly masked whatever emotion it could have been. For an instant he was frozen in awe by the immense power the daemon lord gave off. He couldn't help but wonder what could have driven the powerful creature to attack the place he called home. 

The winds picked up and a heavy downpour started to fall from the gathering ominous clouds. As if nature itself was weeping over the destruction that resulted from the epic battle that was going to take place. Lightning lit up the sky, a heavy thunder following it with less than a second. 

Apparently taking this as a sign to start the battle the Kyuubi opened its enormous mouth. Arashi felt a huge amount of chakra gathering as a ball of fire not unlike the patented Uchiha jutsu formed in between the mighty beasts' jaws. Releasing it at lightning speed at the first worthy opponent he had recognised in the boss frog.

In reflex Arashi formed a seal that instantly transported Gamabunta and himself out of harm's way as the Kyuubi had initiated an attack. His signature yellow flash being the only proof of them having moved at all. The raging inferno he had only just escaped laid several houses into ashes in seconds. 

The pressure the raw power of the foxes' immense chakra was giving off was immense. It dwarfed that of even the most powerful ninja in existence and the effect it was having on its surroundings was unmistakable seeing only the strongest of Shinobi where capable of moving in close vicinity of the powerful creature.

It was impossible not to be impressed by the eons old creature's raw power and beauty but he knew there was no room for failure. He knew that if he failed that not only his beloved village Konoha would be obliterated from the face of the earth but soon others would follow. Thankfully he had the advantage of fighting in his home ground which was layered with seals that allowed him to transport Gamabunta and himself around in a moment's notice. It wouldn't work forever but it wouldn't have to. He just had to survive long enough for the old man to finish the ritual so he could seal the Kyuubi away and safe the village.

Another great ball of fire was heading their way with nearly unimaginable speed, and several of the Kyuubi's tails were heading their way from multiple directions in rapid succession. Once again Arashi was forced to use the Hiraishin no Jutsu to teleport out of the way and witness another part of the district go up in ashes and ruins respectively from the powerful attacks. Along with several of the ninja fighting who hadn't been able to get away in time. 

He had almost missed the attack coming from behind when the Kyuubi focused on them once again. Apparently there was more than just an insane amount of brute force to the fox. As several of the raging infernos behind him caused by the previous brutal attacks suddenly packed together at a flick of a tail and formed a new attack from behind. The only warning he had before the attack struck was the rapidly increasing heat and the searing of the flames behind him.

The fast flying burst of flames crashed roughly into the ground exploding on impact and leaving a small crater. Arashi and Gamabunta only barely made it out of harm's way that time, even judging by their standards. 

Apparently the daemon lord was getting frustrated with his lack of success of hitting his first worthy foe in a while, as was obvious by the rapidly increasing speed of powerful attacks. He couldn't drag this out much longer if he wanted to have a village left by the time this battle was fought.

A majestic eagle circled around his head screeching two times. Arashi sighed in relief it was the usual signal that the preparations were ready. In this case it meant that the ritual had been completed, and not a moment too soon. He had to act fast, after bonding Naruto with the foxes his chakra coils would finish adjusting within 5 minutes and he would have to complete the sealing before that happened. He needed a distraction to get those precious few seconds to pick up Naruto and form the jutsu. _"Hmm why not… sometimes the simplest jutsu work best"_. He thought.

The split second of distraction that the eagle had provided was all that the fearsome daemon he was battling needed however. As a large clawed paw raced in their direction, oddly enough for such a huge appendix it didn't make a single sound, belaying the grace and skill the eons old fox fought with.

Taken by surprise by the ferocious attack heading their way Arashi froze up for a split second which would have been the end of the fight if the huge amphibian he was standing on hadn't jumped away at that precise moment. Nothing but the years of training he had went through enabled him to keep his feet attached to his partners head by the use of chakra when they left their previous position with a huge burst of speed and force. 

However not even the lighting quick reflexes his summon had displayed proved to be enough to completely avoid the deadly attack as became painfully obvious when a huge slash appeared across the frog lords' eye. Wincing in pain a startled cry escaped his mouth making Arashi look down in concern for his friend.

"Gamabunta we're going to need a distraction, we'll create a bunshin on three and have it leap over the Ninetails while I use Hiraishin no Jutsu to get us out of his immediate line of sight". He told his faithful summoned friend. Gamabunta gave a small nod to acknowledge the Fourth's plan, while a steady stream of blood streamed down from the wound over his eye, and started counting to three.

**"One… Two… Three!"** Gamabunta shouted. The moment he finished counting Arashi formed the needed seals for the jutsu to fast for even the trained eye to follow and performed them in such rapid succession that they disappeared nearly at the same time the bunshin was created. Allowing them to retreat back to gramps and Naruto unnoticed.

Everything had been said already when the elder man landed behind him with a crying Naruto in his arms. Kenamo had been as a father to him after his biological parents had died on a mission. And thus without saying another word he took his wailing son out of his arms and turned around to face the Kyuubi. The time had come. Taking one last look at his only son who would have to grow up with the huge burden of being the Kyuubi's jailor; he balanced Naruto on his lower arms so he would have his hands free and started the seals for the last jutsu he would ever use.

**Shikifuujin! (Dead Daemon Imprisonment)**

The only thing the people and ninja of Konoha could see from their position on the ground was their Hokage wreathed in an extremely bright light. No one noticed the kid resting on his lower arms nor did they see the old man that stood behind him on the giant frog. 

The next thing the citizens of Konoha registered was a bright light which was impossible to look at. By the time they regained their sense of sight the Kyuubi had disappeared. The only evidence of the epic battle that had waged between the people of Konoha and the Kyuubi was the amount of destruction it had left behind, and the sound of a crying child being cradled in the arms of the deceased Yondaime.

* * *

A heavy storm was raging over Konoha that night. It was as if the elements themselves tried to rid the land of the remnants of the fight that had taken place only hours before, cleansing the soiled earth of the death and destruction. Through these raging winds and heavy downpours a single old man carrying an infant was fighting a battle of his own, just him against the elements as he made his way home.

Even though he couldn't see much most of the time, the flashes he got when the lightning lit up the sky would forever be etched into his mind. He was near the part where one of the Kyuubi's tails had wrecked the outer walls and parts of the village. Corpses of his fellow Shinobi who bravely stood up against the might of the demon lord were littered all around the area. Debris was everywhere and several houses were still aflame. The raging infernos that had been part of the Kyuubi's attacks had laid the entire district into ashes. The Uzumaki mansion wasn't far from here and he prayed it would still be there when he arrived.

He had nearly arrived at the place he called home when he heard the unmistakable whistling sound of a set of kunai flying to him at high speed. Jumping away he shifted Naruto to his back, attaching his carrier there with chakra while scanning around for his attacker. It only took a moment, because he'd recognize that chakra signature in a room of a million others. This particular missing Nin had been evading him for years. _"With Naruto on my back I can't take him on alone, I'll need help"._

Thinking fast Kenamo quickly formed a couple of seals, bit his thumb and slammed his palm on the floor. A beautiful eagle flew out of the smoke and sat down on the old man's' shoulder. He took a red coloured scroll out of one of his scroll pockets and gave it to the bird. 

Recognizing the colour code of the scroll the missing Nin knew he had to intercept that bird in order to prevent it from calling in reinforcements. He quickly switched his attention to the bird, took out a kunai, and threw it with pinpoint precision. With a satisfied look he saw the majestic bird explode in a puff of smoke. After assuring himself the old man hadn't summoned any other birds with warning messages he turned his attention back to him.

"I have a proposal for you old man", Kenamo heard the nin say as he slowly turned around in a circle, tuning his senses to discover the direction his nemesis was in. 

"_Damn he is using some sort of genjutsu in order to hide his presence, to bad I suck at those. Bloody snake always was way to smart for his own good". _Kenamo ranted in his mind, finding it impossible to detect the exact hiding place of the sneaky bastard, so he just turned into the general direction where he faintly sensed the presence from.

"You have 10 seconds to show yourself and tell me what you have to say before I start tearing apart whatever is left of this place until I flush you out." Noticing the balanced stance and the blue tinted katana that had somehow appeared in the old man's hand, apparently out of nowhere, he knew Kenamo was serious. He had seen that sword only once before, years ago when he was still a genin loyal to Konoha. Like everyone else in the village he had heard of the seeming legendary proficiency that the Uzumaki clan had with swords, but the battle he had seen on that fateful day had been burned into his mind forever.

* * *

_[Flashback_

One of the Seven swordsmen of the mist had somehow snuck into Konoha unnoticed and assassinated a young Uzumaki who had wandered off into the forest near the walls. He had tried to escape with the body so they would be able to unravel the secrets that were held in the child's blood. He was stopped rather abruptly by an enraged Uzumaki Kenamo who had seen it happen but had been too far away to prevent it. Sensing the huge chakra spike behind him, the mist Nin turned around with both of his hook swords drawn. Orochimaru hadn't been able to do anything but stare in awe at the beautiful yet brutal dance of death which had followed.

Enraged beyond reason by the gruesome scene he had witnessed Kenamo took out his katana for the first time in all the years Orochimaru had known him. Where the sword had come from had been a mystery to him. Even now he had no idea where the damn thing appeared from. The blade that was exposed was of a masterful craftsmanship, glowing with an unearthly blue colour, it gave off an incredibly powerful yet extraordinarily eerie aura. As his chakra spiked, fuelled by his rage, the winds Kenamo mastered picked up and his chakra started licking the blade causing the glow to intensify. Rushing to his opponent at high speed, Kenamo kicked up a flurry of dust and debris behind him. In less than a second the distance between the two Nins was covered and a flurry of blows exchanged.

Not prepared for the strength behind the strikes of the enraged Uzumaki, the surprised mist Nin staggered back a bit while parrying the onslaught of strikes to the best of his ability and looking for an opening to counter attack. Even though he was using two swords against Kenamo's one, he wasn't able to do anything but dodge and parry, narrowly preventing himself from being cut to pieces by the sword. As Kenamo danced though his forms it rapidly became painfully obvious (Pun Intended) he was facing a master. Every attack flowed smoothly into the next, and he didn't leave a single opening large enough to exploit. 

Finally though he saw a pause in the chain of attacks and used it to jump backwards in order to create some distance. Hooking the end of his left sword into the right one he swung the sharpened end below the handle of the attached sword towards Kenamo in order to slit his throat with his suddenly increased range.

Moving back as well Kenamo avoided the blade by a hair and gathered a huge amount of chakra in his sword. The winds picked up around him to such an extent that it looked like he was standing in the middle of a raging typhoon. As sudden as it appeared however the typhoon had disappeared, seemingly absorbed by the sword which was now almost blinding to look at.

The shocked mist nin was frozen in awe by the beautiful but deadly scene that played out in front of him, the older man resembled nothing less than an enraged and avenging Archangel, his entire countenance lit up with righteous fury. A roiling wave of chakra trailed in the path of the sword as Kenamo used the pause for a devastating counter attack.

In one last desperate attempt to prevent his untimely demise the mist nin reinforced his swords with nearly all the chakra he had left in order to block the oncoming attack. Crossing them in front of him he prepared to block with all the strength left in his weary body. Having finished the gathering of his chakra Kenamo shouted out the last words the mist Nin would ever hear. 

"**Fuuton: Kiruken!" (Wind type: Flying Blade)**. 

The powerful defence the mist Nin had thrown up had been to no avail. The moment Kenamo had released his attack the mist Nins' fate had been sealed, and he was dead before he had been able to register the fact that the jutsu cleaved straight trough both him and his swords. The attack hadn't ended with him though. This had been glaringly obvious from the carnage in the path of the attack, which had cut a twenty foot swath out of the forest behind him as well.

_[End Flashback_

* * *

Sensing the now familiar chakra spike he associated with the old man, Orochimaru saw him preparing for the same powerful Jutsu he had used back then. Remembering the wide spread damage the attack had caused he decided he didn't fancy being caught in its radius, and quickly complied with the old man's' request to show himself. 

Noticing Orochimaru getting out of his hiding place Kenamo held the attack he was about to release in his sword, who's glow was now lighting up the entire environment. Seeing as the blade didn't blind him this time however Orochimaru figured the attack wasn't charged as fully as it was the last time he saw it. Tearing his eyes of the entrancing sword he turned his attention to Kenamo while he rolled his suggestion around in his mind in order to phrase it in a way that wouldn't get him attacked instantly.

* * *

Sarutobi was staring out of the hole that used to be the window of the Hokage's conference room. He was standing in the debris of what was left of it, staring over the ruins of the village, contemplating the events of the day. He couldn't help but wonder if there was anything that he could have done differently, some motion he could have made to minimize the destruction.

Suddenly his attention was drawn by a chakra spike that he quickly identified as Kenamo's. Wondering whether his old friend was handling his emotions in a bit of a different matter then he was himself, his eyes were drawn to an unearthly blue tinted light on his left. Even though he had only seen it a few times before in his life, he recognized it immediately. Kenamo wouldn't use that jutsu to handle his emotions. It could only mean one thing. Kenamo was in trouble and needed help.

Fearing for the safety of his old friend and the Yondaime's son Naruto, he quickly sprung to action, his promise to Arashi still fresh in his mind as he motioned for the nearby ANBU team to follow him and, without bothering to exit in a normal way; he jumped out of the window, atleast what was left of it; The ANBU team hot on his heels in the direction of the light. A dog masked ANBU who couldn't be much over fourteen years old caught up with him soon after.

"Sarutobi-san, what are your orders?"

"Stay hidden and provide cover when needed, after the issue is resolved follow Uzumaki-san and protect him and the child with your lives. It will be a long term A-rank mission until the village has recovered from the Kyuubi's attack."

Below the mask the dog masked Nin arched an eyebrow, wondering why one of the most powerful ninja's of the village would need an ANBU squad for protection. He had all the information he needed though so he fell back with his squad and quickly informed them of their orders.

* * *

"Spit it out before I change my mind Orochi _(snake)_". Kenamo spat venomously, using a highly offending though very fitting pet name for the Snake Sannin. 

A bit surprised at the uncharacteristic display of hostility coming from the usually neutral and apparently crazy old man he used to know, he decided not to test Kenamo's patience. He knew that even with the kid on his back giving him a huge disadvantage in a fight, Uzumaki Kenamo wasn't a foe he could dispose of quickly. Sarutobi and the ANBU would be there for reinforcement long before he would be able to kill the old man and get away with the damn brat. Even now his time was running short since the eerie otherworldly light the sword was giving off was sure to alert them. _"So much for preventing fast reinforcements",_ Orochimaru grumbled in his mind. 

"I propose you give me the kid and…" He was forced to jump away with all the speed he could muster in order to avoid the attack. Even so he lost more than then just a few hairs. "

"I have heard enough, there isn't a snowballs chance in hell I'll give him to you!" 

Orochimaru reached out with his senses while he was dodging Kenamo's attacks in order to gauge how much time he had left, and ended up cursing as he sensed Sarutobi and the ANBU less then a minute away. 

"I can revive another in his place!"

Kenamo paused briefly and Orochimaru took this opportunity as a moment to press his case.

"Think about it Uzumaki-san" Orochimaru continued smoothly. "For the price of just that one little demon brat over there I can raise your entire family from death". 

For a moment it looked like Kenamo would take the bait and hand the brat over. Just as Orochimaru started to move in Kenamo's direction to take the kid of his hands, the old man started laughing maniacally. Surprised at the sudden mood change the missing Nin halted his approach and waited impatiently for the response he was sure would follow. He wasn't disappointed.

"What do you take me for? Some senile old fool?" Kenamo said a few seconds later after his laughter died down. "Why for the love of everything that's holy would I want to keep a family of living death?" The old man seemed genuinely perplexed as if he couldn't even fathom why anyone would want to do something like that.

Seeing as he didn't have the time left to convince the old man of a deal, Orochimaru did what every self respecting missing Nin in his position would do. He threw a set of shuriken as a distraction, forcing Kenamo to dodge swiftly, and started a set of hand seals faster than the eye could follow. Before Kenamo had a chance to react Orochimaru shouted his technique **Biransei no Jutsu (Poison Gas Technique).**

Filling his lungs with air Orochimaru manipulated the chakra to create a huge amount of poisoned gas in his mouth and exhaled sharply. Only to use the distraction to disappear into the night, leaving one last threat in the air: "I will get the brat eventually old man..."

Mere moments after the snake Sannin disappeared, Sarutobi arrived at the scene. The ANBU squad staying hidden as they were ordered to. Just when Sarutobi was about to use a jutsu to get rid of the poison gas he heard the unmistaken voice of his old friend. 

**Katon: Ryuuka no Jutsu (Flame Type: Dragon Fire Technique)**

Realizing with a shock what Kenamo was doing Sarutobi created as much distance as possible between him and the poison cloud in the little amount of time he had. The ANBU squad realizing the same where right on his heels.

A few seconds later he heard a huge explosion rocking the city behind him. And he got nearly lifted off his feet by the resulting shockwave. Shaking his head at his friends' impulsive behaviour he made his way back to the crater that used to be a part of the town. He was sure that whoever the person fighting Kenamo was would have made his escape by now. Assuming the assailant survived the blast of course.

When Sarutobi arrived back at the part of town gone crater he sweat dropped at the amount of destruction the blast had caused everything in a five hundred yard radius had been completely wiped of the face of the earth. In the middle of all the chaos and diminishing smoke and dirt he saw the old man holding Naruto looking a bit ruffled up from the skirmish and explosion a moment ago. Fortunately it didn't look like he or Naruto received a serious injury during the fight.

"Kenamo are you two alright? What happened?" Sarutobi asked worriedly. 

After a few seconds a rather worn out Kenamo told his old friend what had transpired only moments before. Only to run off without even bothering to check on how re reacted to the news that his old student and most powerful missing nin known to Konoha, had been spotted in the ruins of the village. Apparently he was after either Naruto or his tenant. At that moment the place he called home for all those years had a higher priority on his list than the events from before. And thus before anyone had a chance to keep him occupied any longer he hurried off in order to try and save the place he had called home for all that time from destruction. Staying hidden to the best of their abilities the shaken up ANBU squad followed him every step of the way.

* * *

He barely arrived in time to save the house. The shed containing most of the families' weapon collection was ablaze and the flames were licking on the east side of the mansion, he would have to act fast.Shifting Naruto back on his back again he started forming a long set of seals. "**Suiton: Daibakufu no Jutsu (Water Type: Great Waterfall Technique)**," he bellowed. The rain around him being manipulated by his chakra rapidly formed into a huge mass of water. The resulting tidal wave washed over the house and ripped through the already weakened shed.

"_Hmm, guess I overdid it a little…" _He had used a bit more chakra then was necessary for the Jutsu to extinguish the fire. Sure the fire was gone, unfortunately so was the shed and everything behind it. The house which only took a glancing hit had luckily been able to withstand the onslaught of the powerful water elemental technique. Scratching the back of his head in embarrassment, he shifted Naruto back into a more comfortable position.

Using his free hand he motioned to one of the ANBU who had been following him since his encounter with the missing Nin. Masking his surprise at being discovered the dog-masked Nin jumped down from his hiding place and joined Kenamo. He saw the old man making a sweeping motion and pointing at the house. Nodding to acknowledge the order he received from his superior, Kakashi turned around to his team and repeated the order to sweep the house. 

The team moved out surrounding the place while staying hidden to the best of their ability. Considering this was an elite team even among the ANBU the best of their ability meant that it was nearly impossible to tell where they were, even for Kenamo. Kakashi signalled the lioness-masked squad member and ordered her to join him in sweeping the house, while the others covered the exits from the outside, her lion companion stalked over to Kenamo and Naruto in order to guard them while his mistress swiped the house.

* * *

Carefully Kakashi and Youko entered the premises through a window on the second floor. The two highly trained ANBU moved without making a sound. Looking around Kakashi halted in surprise by the sight that met them. The room they had entered was completely ransacked. Clothes, scrolls, weapons and personal possessions were scattered throughout the chamber. Judging by the open drawers whom apparently had been looked trough in a hurry, it seemed safe to presume someone had broken in a short while ago in order to look for something. Whether or not anything was missing would have to be sought out by the old man. 

Taking out a small note block Kakashi quickly wrote something down and gave it to Youko. _"Careful it looks like someone has broken in here recently, the burglar could still be here."_ It said turning his attention to his lioness masked teammate. She was fidgeting a bit and smiled embarrassedly. _"Uhm, actually this is the way I left my room. I was in a bit of a hurry when we had to leave on our last mission… I… overslept." _She wrote in response.

Kakashi sweat dropped, but he chose not to comment on it for the time being. He made a quick hand sign while carefully leaving the room through the open door signalling that both of them would look in a different direction. Kakashi headed for the entrance while Youko stealthily moved over through the rear of the mansion she knew like the back of her hand.

Swiftly she cleared the house. Perhaps it was simply because she knew the place so well but at the moment she heard the unmistakable clicking of an activating trap mechanism she knew her fate had been sealed.

* * *

"They should be nearly done by now". Kenamo softly told the little tyke in his arms. He was known for many things but patience wasn't among it. Lack of it was more likely to be mentioned when you asked anyone who knew him. And thus he did what everyone else in his shoes would have done. Without waiting for the ANBU to report the situation in his home he crossed the remaining distance between himself and the door. His nieces' lion followed him every step of the way.

With some trepidation Kenamo slowly entered the mansion he had been living in for all these years with the Uzumaki clan, his family. Now Naruto, the crying infant he cradled in his arms, he, and the female ANBU who was currently sweeping the mansion were the only members of his family whom survived the tragic day. 

It didn't feel right though. It was a beautiful place filled with a lot of happy memories of his past. However somehow it felt empty and hollow without his family's bristling of life that he was so used to hear upon entering. The mansion he had called home for all these years suddenly didn't feel all that welcoming anymore.

With a sigh he dropped his backpack on the floor and he heard a sudden undignified yelp coming out of it. Little Naruto stopped crying immediately when he heard it, looking around with interest as if he was trying to determine where the strange sound had come from. Deciding to check it out gramps put Naruto down. 

Carefully opening his backpack so he could see what had caused the noise, he suddenly pulled back in a reflex as he saw something jumping out of it at high speed. Feeling something bite down on him for the second time that day, Kenamo looked at his arm. For some reason he wasn't surprised to see a little fox cub attached to it.

Cursing he made some rather rude assumptions about the little foxes parents, while making sure to keep his voice down. Naruto's wailing had given him a hell of a headache. And he didn't fancy that brat starting to cry again just because he did some original swearing. 

Putting some pressure with one of his fingers against the little fox's jaw joint he was able to detach her from his arm without causing more damage. Without thinking about it any further he put her down beside him and rummaged through his backpack for his first aid kit so he could take care of the wound. 

"_Grrrr",_ she was growling menacingly behind him. Quickly Kenamo turned around to make sure Naruto would be alright. The scene he saw wasn't what he had expected though, instead of seeing Naruto tugging on an interestingly moving tail as he imagined; he saw the little vixen standing protectively in front of Naruto with all her hairs on end, growling at an appearing shadow. His nieces´ companion was standing protectively over them. Without a doubt the fearsome beast had been put on edge by the menacing growl the little vixen was producing.

Suddenly all of Kenamo's senses went on edge, and a kunai appeared in his hand in the blink of an eye. A katana just wasn't very practical in close quarters. "Show yourself!" he shouted at the shadow. 

Chuckling a bit while his hands rose over his head Kakashi appeared around the corner. "No worries old man I won't hurt you". He replied cheekily. Both Kenamo and the lion relaxed when they recognized the familiar figure of one of Arashi's students. Kenamo put down his kunai only to be blown backwards by a huge explosion that obliterated the majority of the mansion.

* * *

Author's note:

I hope you enjoyed the first chapter of what appears to be going a long story judging from the pace I'm writing it in at the moment.  
This is my first attempt on writing a story and even though argumented constructive critisism is more than welcome flames are not. Please let me know what you think. 


	2. Chapter 2: Meeting the team

Disclaimer:

Can be found at the start of the first chapter of this story.

Author's note:

Sorry for the long time it took me to post this update. I've had little time to write due to exams and stuff. I'll try update sooner for the following chapters.

* * *

_**Chapter 2**_

Meeting the team

"Tap, tap, tap".

Groggily a young woman in her early twenties turned around trying to stay asleep in spite of the annoying tapping at her window.

"Tap, tap, tap".

Not really registering what it meant, she did what she always did when something disturbed her slumber before she finished sleeping. She took the fist object she could get her hands on, which happened to be her latest alarm clock and threw it in the general direction of the noise.

The familiar sound of a breaking window reached her ears a few seconds before the cold morning air did. Shivering from the freezing breeze she quickly dove beneath the blankets in order to escape the cold and get some more sleep. Content with the results for now she turned around fully intending to continue the rest she started only a few hours ago.

Apparently someone else wasn't too keen on letting her sleep however. The life form that had been tapping her window had returned after being so rudely disturbed in her work. Deciding harsher methods where needed she entered the room, clutched the blanket between her talons and flew off with it through the window, dropping a small note in the process.

Shivering from the morning cold that suddenly attacked her entire body she woke up completely in an instant. Disgruntled because her sleep got interrupted anyway she quickly scanned the room with a menacing look. Looking for the perpetrator like a hunter lurking after its prey.

"I don't care who stole my blanket but if you value your life you'll give it back right now!"

An assignment scroll fell from her bed when she made her threat and she was barely able to see the fast retreating form of a very familiar eagle, still clutching her blankets in its talons. It was about the only creature that always seemed to manage to wake her up without getting injured, and right now that irked her unlike anything else.

"**Damn you Akari! Get back here with my blankets so I can hurt you for waking me up!"** She shouted in frustration at the overgrown bird while she was hanging half out of the remains of her window shaking her fist at it.

She would have properly chased the damn bird down to retrieve her covers and get back to bed if it hadn't been for the sound of something crashing into a wall on the street below her. Looking down she saw a lot of blood and a man who seemed to have passed out from a major nosebleed.

Checking herself over she noticed she was still in her night clothing which didn't consist out anything more than her light mesh bodysuit, which looked very similar to a fishnet shirt, and the necklace she never took off. She had to admit since mesh hugged her body at every curve and was partly see-through so it left very little to the imagination... not that she cared.

Looking around she picked up one of her old training weights and threw it at the pervert for good measure. With satisfaction she heard a sickening crunch of bones breaking when the weights hit their target death centre. It served him right for peeking on her, even though it was mainly her fault for hanging out of the window shouting, dressed like that. Deciding that little fact was besides the point she turned around to get dressed for the day, making a mental note to send a message to the maintenance guy for another new window. It wouldn't surprise her if she was keeping his business going single-handedly by now.

She moved over to the chair she left her standard ANBU outfit on before turning in, and put them on. After fastening her forehead protector, hiding her assortment of ninja weapons in her clothes and strapping her katana to her back she reached for her mask. It had the shape of the head of a wolf with a dark blue swirl on the bottom ending just below the nose.

Having finished her morning routine her eyes fell on the scroll that damn bird had woken her for. _"O well might as well see what it says since I'm awake now anyway"_. She reasoned. Carefully scanning the scroll for traps with a few scanning Jutsu she deemed it safe and carefully opened the wax seal. Unrolling the scroll she read the single sentence it contained.

'_Be present at the meeting of 5.30 AM in the usual place concerning a future assignment._

_Eagle_

Glancing at the clock she saw she only had 10 minutes left to make it to the meeting. "DAMMIT! I'll get you for this old man!" she screamed in frustration. "He could have told me yesterday but no! He had to send that overgrown canary of his to wake me up in the middle of night like always." She complained to no one in particular. She was sure he just loved to irk her like this and she would make sure she'd make him pay for it one day, consequences be dammed.

With one last glance at the clock (in the kitchen since the ones in her bedroom never seemed to survive long for some reason) she grabbed her beige trench coat and jumped out of the window leaving for the meeting place at top speed, accelerated by her frustration of being woken at such an ungodly hour.

* * *

About ten minutes ago she had arrived at the usual meeting place fully intending to give the old man a piece of her mind only to find it completely abandoned. So obviously she did the next best thing. She turned around and went over to the old man's house to shout at him there.

With a brisk pace she walked through the garden over to the door of the Uzumaki's property. **"KENAMO! Open this damn door right now!"** She shouted while banging on the door as loudly as possible. She kept on knocking until the door opened revealing the groggily face of the old man. His normally well tended long white hair standing on all ends. Obviously he had still been asleep when she arrived and that infuriated her even more.

Before he had any chance to react or say anything to her he felt a kunai pressing into the skin of his throat and she started her verbal assault. **"What the hell where you thinking, having that overgrown canary of yours waking me up in the middle of the night, only to send me to a meeting that didn't exist! Is this your idea of a joke!?** The kunai she was holding against him pressed deeper into his skin with every point she made, and was starting to draw a bit of blood by now.

The only indication she got of Kenamo having heard anything she yelled in his face or noticing the kunai poised at his throat for that matter was the extremely confused look he was giving her. Taking a deep breath to calm her demeanour she retracted her kunai licking of the blood in the process with a maniacal gleam in her eyes, only to replace it with the scroll his bird had left her and trusted it none to gently in his face.

Picking himself up from the floor he quickly read over the note, a look of realisation slowly dawning on the old man's face. "Sorry about that Anko that note was supposed to be for Kakashi, go back to sleep". He replied. Without giving her any chance to reply he shut the door in her face and went back to sleep.

Annoyed at his rude behaviour Anko tried the door fully intending on following him, so she'd at least be able to get back her favourite blanket, only to be shocked by the handle. _"So that dirty old man thinks he can wake me up at this time of the day and get away with it eh? Well, we'll see about that!"_ She thought. Stealthily Anko made her way through the huge garden, moving around with the grace of a cat. She left no sign of her presence nor made any sound to give any indication of her whereabouts.

Suddenly she froze; her foot poised only a few scant inches above the ground while she listened intently at the steadily growing alarm. _"SHIT"_, she thought, _"I should have realized that old bear would have an intruder alert"_.

After a few seconds of nobody coming for her she relaxed and tried to trace the sound to its origin. Only to create a replacement technique out of reflex when a loud ringing object came flying straight at her at high speeds. A deafening crash was heard when the object hit and effectively splintered the log she had used for the replacement on impact, the ringing stopping nearly immediately afterwards.

Looking down at the deadly object from her position in the trees she realized that the "life threatening" situation she had escaped by a hair, had been nothing else then a ringing alarm clock that had been flung out of one of the houses opened windows at high speed. Not being the kind of person to let a blow to her pride like that go unanswered, even if it happened unintentionally, she made her way over to the open window. Using chakra to stick to the wall she quietly made her way over to the second floor.

Listening intently she tried to gauge if it would be safe to check trough the window without being discovered. As she didn't hear a sound after a few moments, she took the chance and moved the last bit required to see into the room; only to stare straight in the brightest half opened blue eyes she'd ever seen, belonging to none other than an apparently half awake Uzumaki Naruto.

Surprised as she was by looking straight in the eyes of the kid she hadn't even been able sense when there was less then tree feet between them, Anko was involuntary impressed. Even she would have never thought that the loudest person in the entire village possessed such an incredible amount of natural stealth. Reflecting on the little she knew about the kid though she grudgingly had to admit to herself that she shouldn't have been. After all pulling pranks on high level ninja's like he had on occasion required a high skill level of stealth. Just like everyone else in the village she had apparently been fooled by his loud façade and underestimated his abilities.

Focusing her thoughts back on the kid she realised he was still staring at her with that blank faraway expression he had worn earlier. Most of the respect he had just earned from her plummeted back down the drain when she realized he was literally still half asleep standing there and he seemingly hadn't even noticed she was there. Deciding to test her theory she snapped her fingers right next to his left ear as loud as she could.

The effect was immediately noticeable when he jumped back picking something up in mid jump and dropped in a basic defensive stand, his arms positioned like he was holding a sword. Only to realise a moment later that the "sword" he was holding was still lying next to his bed.

Sparing a confused glance at the arm he had raised above his head, poised so that the sword should have been pointing in the direction of his enemy perfectly aligned to the floor. His eyes met with the fiery look of a very offended little vixen which seemed to be in an extremely bad mood by being woken in such a rude matter. If the glare she was giving him hadn't been a dead giveaway then the fangs snapping only millimetres from his ears certainly where.

Wiping away the huge sweat drop that had appeared on the back of her head she decided to climb the rest of the way in the room and sit down on the windowsill. Turning her attention back to Naruto she couldn't help but bursting out laughing as she saw the kid desperately apologizing to the highly insulted fox.

Hearing her laugh Naruto's and the foxes' attention where draw from their current conflict to her, noticing their questioning looks Anko decided to think fast since she didn't want the old man to know she had ventured inside his house without permission. So she used the first obvious solution that came to her mind, she removed her mask and said: "Ne, Naruto want to help me get revenge on the old man?"

Immediately she saw his eyes light up in delight with the prospect of helping an ANBU out pranking his gramps. "I'll treat you to ramen if you manage to pull it off". She continued almost as in an afterthought. The look on his face told her all she needed to know. _"He-he got him; let's see what this kid can do!"_

"Of course I'll help you Nee-chan", Naruto replied bouncing with excitement at the prospect of free ramen. He could practically taste the flavour of his favourite kind already when a stray thought forced its way through his ramen indulged mind.

Anko raised an eyebrow at his familiar form of address but decided to let it slide for now. She was not supposed to be there and she was sure Kenamo would let her pay for it if he ever found out. He was her superior after all. She still shuddered at the memory of what happened last time he found out she had taken revenge on him for another one of his mistakes. She'd been stuck doing D-rank missions for a month, if she ever had to catch that bloody cat again…

Glancing back at Naruto she noticed that he had stopped his dance of joy and a thoughtful look had appeared on his face. Catching her looking at him he decided he might as well voice the thought that kept nagging him in the back of his mind. At least he'd have some peace and quiet in his head again. "Why?"

Anko told him what had happened. "So I want to take revenge on him for sending me Kakashi's message and having that bloody bird of his waking me up at that ungodly hour! Which reminds me he still has my blanket?!" She concluded rather loud.

"Well he has this thing with snakes." Naruto replied thoughtfully, grateful that the little voice in his head had stopped nagging him.

"He does! So there is something good about that old pervert after all!" Anko replied surprised. "He sure fooled me; he never did appear to like them much when we were on a mission".

"Huh"? Naruto replied intelligently as he was thoroughly confused by then. "Gramps likes snakes? Ha, not in this lifetime, he's scared to death of 'em!"

"What! How can he be afraid of snakes? Just look at them." She replied pulling a young black mamba from her left sleeve. "Just look how beautiful she is, those wonderful dark-grey scales reflecting the sunlight, the muscular but lean body allowing it to reach up to 13 miles an hour and the pitch-black colour on the inside of her mouth bringing out those lovely fangs dripping with their deadly poison. She continued while she expertly opened the snakes' mouth without giving it a chance to bite her in order to show Naruto what she was talking about.

Naruto however was slowly backing off getting thoroughly freaked out from the strange woman who was lovingly stroking the highly dangerous snake while she admired its fangs.

"Did you know that a single shot of their neurotoxin can paralyse a full grown man within minutes, completely killing him soon after when it reaches the hart unless he gets treated with an antidote before that happens?" She continued apparently completely oblivious to Naruto's discomfort with the deadly creature in his room.

An undignified yelp coming from a highly offended and slightly edgy fox brought her out of her rant about the beauty of snakes, only to see Naruto pressed against the far end of the wall on the other side of the room trying to hide himself behind the little vixen he was holding as some sort of shield in front of him. The red furry creature wasn't pleased by that arrangement as she made painfully obvious (pun intended) by biting down on one of Naruto's hands as hard as she could.

**"OUCH! Dammit Akane let go!"** Naruto screamed out in pain while losing his grip on her. Apparently satisfied with her revenge and refound freedom she did exactly that and settled down next to him. Sporting what looked most like a smug expression on her face.

Deciding to ignore the scene in front of her when she noticed the wound on his hand healing rapidly, she let her pet go which immediately crawled back into its cosy warm spot in her sleeve so she could get back to sleep.

"So the old man is afraid of snakes?" She continued as if nothing strange had happened before. "How about we…"

* * *

"I raise with 5 ramen coupons." Kenamo declared after rechecking his cards. He smiled in his mind's eye while keeping his features perfectly schooled, masking his glee at his good fortune. He had a Royal Flush so there was no way he could lose this game. He couldn't raise the stakes by too much however or else the others would know he had a good hand. They had been playing poker for years together and knew each other's play stiles like the back of their hands. He always had the habit to bet a lot when he was dealed a good hand and they all knew it, so this time he did everything he could to resist the urge. The stakes would rise on their own good time if he played his hand carefully.

Discretely he looked around the table at his opponents, he was able to read Sarutobi as a book and he could clearly see the frustration in the old man's eyes. Kakashi and Hiashi where a different case altogether though, both of them had learned to school their features perfectly years ago. And just like every other time he had tried he was unable to get any indication of the cards they held. For once it didn't matter though, he would win this one for sure and the stakes kept rising. Sarutobi had called out at the first raise, knowing his cards wouldn't be able to bring him any luck this round. Kakashi and Hiashi however kept going strong, either bluffing very convincingly or holding good hands as well.

Eventually though the time to show the cards had arrived and he allowed his smile to break through on his face knowing he had just won a weeks' worth of free ramen. As his friends saw the huge smile on his face they knew they had lost since obviously both of them had been bluffing enormously. Hiashi was holding a pair of two's and Kakashi wasn't even holding that much. For a short moment he was allowed to be aware of an event only few where privileged to see in a lifetime and even fewer where left to tell the tale about. He could clearly read the frustration in the eyes of the Hyuuga clan head that had just lost a fortune worth of ramen.

At the moment he slammed his cards down on the table however, the whole scenery changed. His garden where they had been sitting in suddenly turned into a dark swamp and he could clearly hear the unmistakable sound of those terrible creatures closing in on them. Looking around trying to determine where the sounds originated from his eyes fell on his friends, as they were suddenly pulled down into the swamp so fast that all he was able to distinguish was the smooth slimy and scaled body of a huge snake that was devouring his friends.

He moved as fast as he could in order to attempt to save them before they were severely injured despite of his fear for these horrible creatures. His sword was summoned by his side in an instance, but before he could take any action to save his companions he felt the sensation of a slithering body wrapping itself around his legs, crawling up at an agonizing pace while he was paralysed by fear.

Fighting of his initial reaction by biting down hard on his tongue he broke free of the fear induced paralysis and started trashing around, struggling to break free so he could take care of this monstrous creature and hopefully save his friends in the process. Suddenly the scenery disappeared as he became aware of a falling sensation only moments before he crashed down on the floor next to his bed. His fateful sword kept steady in his right hand.

Looking around he noticed he was in his bedroom. _"Sigh that dream again…"_ It had been hunting him for ages ever since that event in a past he had tried to leave behind. Deciding he might as well get up since he was awake anyway he started to get up. Only to realize his legs where still tightly bound together. Almost afraid of what he might see he slowly turned his head to look down.

His heart skipped a beat and shot up to his throat as he realized that a very real looking snake was still curled around his legs looking straight at him and hissing ominously.

Faster than the eye could follow his sword had left its scabbard and with one perfectly executed horizontal strike the terrible creature was decapitated, effectively breaking the illusion. As the ropes that had been manipulated to look and act like snakes fell of his legs down on the floor.

Wide awake and out of breath by the recent events his mind took little to no time to figure out what had happened, the unmistakable laughter of Naruto from his room across the hall, being a dead giveaway. He knew one sure way to get back at the kid though and effectively stopping the laughter at the same time.

**"NARUTO! Get your arse in the courtyard right now! And bring your sword! We have some 'training' to do."** He bellowed across the hall, putting an emphasis on the word 'training'. He smirked with satisfaction as the laughter died down immediately. Normally the kid loved training but he knew after pulling a stunt like that, that bringing his sword for training wasn't something to look forward to.

Looking back at the brilliant prank the kid had played on him, he noticed something that he hadn't realised before. There was something very peculiar about the Genjutsu that made him believe the ropes where in fact snakes. The skill itself really wasn't what made it strange; not at all the illusion had been perfectly executed. However that was exactly the problem: The kid simply sucked royally in the entire Genjutsu field. He just couldn't have pulled one of if his life depended on it; someone had to have helped him out...

Absentmindedly he softly traced his fingers over his throat, abruptly seizing the motion when he felt his hand crossing a streak of dried op blood.

Suddenly a huge smirk lit up his face as he remembered the scene of an angry Anko banging on his door demanding an explanation for the note his companion had taken to the wrong ninja. Reflecting on it he realised the prank had her name all over it. It was just like her to pull a stunt like that. Apparently forcing her to catch that damn cat over and over for a month hadn't taught her not to mess with him again like he intended it to do. The 'fearsome beast' actually seemed to have taken a liking to him after all the times he had helped her escape.

This time he would take drastic measures. Hearing Naruto grumbling to himself while he made his way downstairs for his 'training' session Kenamo quickly formed a single seal creating a single Kage Bunshin. He quickly passed the orders to the solid clone he had just created. It would have to give the kid his training instead. He had some arrangements to take care of, and he didn't have much time left to do it in.

* * *

"Oi Sarutobi! Listen up; we have a bit of a problem with the new Genin teams." Kenamo yelled while he barged into the Hokage's office unannounced. The Chuunin on guard duty was standing slightly dishevelled behind him looking at the Hokage with a sheepish apologetic smile.

Knowing that his old friend couldn't care less about proper etiquette or who was standing in his way when he was worked up about something, Sarutobi waved the Chuunin off and motioned for him to close the door behind him.

Relief obvious on his face the newly instated Chuunin hurried to follow his leaders' orders, closing the double oaken doors with a resounding thud, and taking up his former guarding position again. Pulling up his resolve as he promised himself he would do what he could to prevent a similar situation from occurring again.

"What has gotten you so worked up Kenamo? You mentioned something about there being a problem with the new Genin teams?" The Hokage said addressing his friend while raising an eyebrow.

"Yeah well you see it's like this. Akari here" He said pointing at the magnificent eagle that was currently residing on his shoulder "made a little mistake with one of the messages for the new Jounin instructors. The one that I sent three hours early that was supposed to go to Kakashi so he might actually arrive somewhat on time for once, ended up going to Anko instead. Needless to say she wasn't very trilled about it."

Sarutobi winced at the mental image that appeared when his old friend told him exactly what had happened with Anko this morning, ending his story up with the prank that had been played on him by the two of them.

"Well I agree that a bit of payback is in order. But how is this story related to the Genin teams?" The third asked slightly confused.

"Well that's obvious isn't it?" Kenamo replied wondering how on earth Sarutobi was able to overlook the problem. "The meeting is in about fifteen to twenty minutes and Kakashi didn't get a note yet."

The sound of splintering wood echoed through the room as the Sandaime slammed his head onto his desk with a bit more force than the poor piece of furniture could handle, indicating that the third was fully aware of the problem now. There was no way that Kakashi would arrive even nearly on time to get his team assigned to him.

The doors to the office suddenly slammed open. Revealing several ANBU and the Chuunin guard streaming in the office in order to check out what had caused the disturbance, and ready to defend their Hokage with their lives would the need arise. It wouldn't have been the first time one of the other villages attempted to assassinate their leader. Not that assassinating a Hokage was an easy feat mind you, only the strongest ninja's of the village could be elected by the council to rise to the position.

With Kenamo already in the office, one of the few ninja in the village that could challenge their Hokage to a duel and stand a good chance of winning; the guarding squad seriously doubted they where needed even if there was an attempted assassination. The last time that happened with both of them in the office the battle had been even over before they could intervene.

The poor Chuunin started sweating profusely when he noticed the katana barely gracing the skin of his throat and the blue orb of whirling chakra only barely separated from the mask of one of the elite ninja's that came in with him. Apparently identifying the ninja that had come in the office as Konoha's, Kenamo flicked his sword which disappeared to Kami knows where he hid the damn thing and let the ball of chakra dissipate harmlessly.

Breathing easier with the extremely sharp weapon removed from his throat he turned his attention to Kenamo as he realised he was being addressed.

"Find Mitarashi Anko and tell her to come here in twenty minutes."

Rapidly paling as the orders he had just received processed in his mind the Chuunin acknowledged the command and left in a puff of smoke. It just wasn't his day. He had been flung aside, held at sword point and been ordered to find the craziest and rather dangerous ANBU in the village and it wasn't even eight AM yet. Paling even further as he remembered the legendary tales of her morning temper told by his fellow Chuunin who had been ordered to do the same, he swallowed heavily and hurried on to finish his mission. At the very least he would have some interesting tales to tell his friends tonight.

Raising an eyebrow at his friend Sarutobi dismissed the ANBU while ordering one of them to get him a new desk. "You want to give Kakashi's team to Anko?" He asked incredulously. "I really don't think it is a good idea to let her teach the Uchiha. The boys mind is fragile enough after what happened to him even without her influence." He continued in a tone that clearly stated he thought Kenamo had finally lost the last of his marbles while shuddering at the mental images his mind was creating with the possibility.

"**Hell no!** Has all that paperwork finally driven you out of you mind?! Those two together in one team would create a warzone and I don't even want to think about the effect that would have on the Uchiha's personality. We'd probably have a whole new Uchiha massacre on our hands in no time if we stuck those two together. No we need to give her Genin that can handle her... unique personality. Besides if you ask me the previous team setups where way to specialised anyway.

"I assume you have a suggestion for the teams then?" The third asked him with a knowing twinkle in his eyes. Having known his friend as well as he did he was pretty sure that Kenamo had arranged all of that to happen and the note ending up with Anko wasn't an accident at all.

Sure enough in response Kenamo took out a note with his suggestion for the teams for Sarutobi to read.

"Hmm yes I see you went for all round teams instead of specialist, o well why not it should work and we would be able to assign them a wider range of mission to them. And we can just tell Kakashi to tutor the Uchiha in his free hours once he awakens his Bloodline ability." His personal assigned mission completed Kenamo left the Sandaime on his own while he was talking to himself going over all of the pros and cons.

* * *

A lone figure slowly made its way into the classroom. Apparently not even noticing the stares he was receiving from the occupants that had already been there. He held his eyes in front of him on the floor as to make sure he placed his feet down correctly. Spotting an empty seat in his path he carefully moved over and slowly eased down on it.

A lavender colour eyed girl let a shocked gasp escape from her lips when she took in his appearance, noticing him wince when he sat down next to her. His brightly orange coloured clothes where cut all over the place. His vest was hanging in shreds from his shoulders and the black shirt beneath it was cut in several places which where coated in blood. The only thing that didn't fit in the entire picture where his sparkling eyes and the huge grin he was sporting on his face.

"_I finally hit him!"_ Naruto thought exited thinking back of the '_training'_ he endured as a result for their prank earlier that morning. He had long ago discovered that he learned fighting better under pressure and getting his gramps riled up was a sure way to fight that way. Unfortunately getting the old man angry wasn't easy, but the snake prank certainly did the job this morning.

"What are you smiling about, Dobe?" Sasuke asked apparently annoyed with him like usual. "You look like you've been run over by a pack of Inuzuka's."

He noticed they were looking at him with contempt again, he didn't know why people did that but for some reason he always had felt like some sort of outcast; the people who didn't stare at him like he was some sort of filthy creature that shouldn't be allowed to exist where a rare breed indeed. It had always been that way. At first only the adults reacted to him that way, shortly after their children took over their elders' behaviour. His only living relative being a Hunter Nin didn't help matters either since he spent nearly as much time away on missions as he did at home.

Early on he noticed that bringing Akane with him outside of his families grounds' seemed to make things worse, as she seemed to be in more danger then even he was he had decided to leave her at home until the day he would become a Genin and would be able to protect her. And perhaps even get some tips from Kiba. One of the few persons who treated him normally, well as normal as Kiba treated people anyway, to train her to be viable in battle.

When his gramps had taken him to the local weapon smith on his fourth birthday it had been one of the best days of his short life. The man had treated him warmly and without contempt, patiently helping him to choose a sword that was suited for his physique. After thirty minutes of trying sword after sword they decided to give him a bit of a breather and let him look around, checking out the displays his eyes fell on a strong and heavy looking blade. It was single edged, straight and had a large metal crossgaurd placed between the blade and the handle.

The shopkeeper noticing his interest and walked over, taking the Nandao as it appeared to be called suited for his length out of the case and handing it over. The moment he tried to use the Southern style Chinese Broadsword they all knew he had found his sword. It felt natural in his hands and unlike the other swords he tried it moved exactly the way he wanted it to, well at least as exact as it could in untrained hands.

On their way back home he proudly carried his new sword with him. When the euphoria of his present whore of a bit though, he noticed his gramps glaring at the villagers who were looking at him and the sword with contempt as if they disapproved with him learning the art of the swords his clan had been known for. Like with Akane his little fox companion he decided to leave the sword at home until the day he became a Genin or he could hide it from prying eyes.

Being shunted by nearly everyone all of his life and being forced to leave his companion at home whenever he stepped out left Naruto a little lonely and infused with a need to prove himself and to be acknowledged by others. So he grasped every opportunity to stand in the spotlights forcing people to acknowledge his existence, the opportunity Sasuke's question provided wasn't an exception to this. Just when he gathered his thoughts back to the scene at hand though he got distracted by a question of the shy girl he had sat down next to when he came in.

"Ano... Naruto? What happened to you?" She asked with a soft voice. The shy girl next to him hardly ever spoke at all so everyone looked at her in surprise as she ducked her head blushing furiously from the attention she was suddenly getting. The concern at Naruto's dishevelled appearance and his lack of response to his rival immediately forgotten.

Seemingly oblivious to her distress at her situation Naruto jumped back up from his seat, ignoring the pain it caused him and launched excitedly into his explanation, a smile gracing his lips when he heard her breathe a soft sigh of relief behind him.

"Well I had this morning training session with gramps, and you should have seen it! He was like cutting me up pretty badly;

"Yeah that's pretty obvious" Sasuke rudely interrupted Naruto, smirking as he looked at the blonds' dishevelled appearance.

Glaring at him but further ignoring the jibe for once Naruto continued on with his tale as if he hadn't just been rudely interrupted. "But in the end I expertly parried his attack, moved in trough his defence and put my sword right trough him in a single move!" He told them avidly with the movements to boot, wincing in pain every once in a while.

"You put a sword right through your own gramps?!" Sakura joined in, in shock. Apparently the comment had taken her off-guard, since she usually ignored him to the best of her ability.

"Pfft, that's just an idle boast, to get attention, if he could use a sword he would have taken it with him for the physical combat tests exams, besides only the ANBU are taught to use them." Ino said from the back of the room.

"Yeah you should have seen it! It was the first time I was able to beat one of his clones! Naruto continued as if Ino hadn't just blatantly made him out for a liar at all.

"Clones?" Sakura replied dumbstruck.

"Yeah Clones, you know those things that look like you and get created with chakra?" He replied slowly as if he was talking to a particularly dense girl.

**"BAKA!"** she shouted while she slugged him hard over the head resulting in Naruto having a rather unpleasant meeting with the floor. Shikamaru who had been the victim of that punch as well after a comment he made about her forehead which was a touchy subject with the girl for some reason winced in sympathy. "I know what clones are! But they aren't supposed to be solid… are they?" She replied slightly confused.

Naruto's face lit up in a huge smile when he realised that for once he knew something the beautiful although somewhat violent Haruna Sakura didn't.

Seeing his face lit up in obvious enjoyment as he picked himself up from the newly created dent in the floor, Sakura groaned in despair. Ino would never allow her to live that one down: not knowing something the Dobe obviously did.

"You see Sakura it's like this." Naruto said adopting a sage like tone of voice.

"Alright everyone takes your seats." Their teacher Iruka yelled while he walked into the classroom, effectively cutting Naruto's explanation short before it even started.

Grumbling something about rude people that kept interrupting him all the time he trudged back over to his seat. He was still a bit dizzy due to a lack of blood caused by the multiple cuts all over his body. But he didn't spare it any thought since his body was healing the damage as rapidly as usual and he was already feeling a lot better anyway.

"First of all I would like to apologize for being late. There was a little problem with getting a hold of one of the Jounin sensei this morning so we had to change the teams a bit to adjust to the situation. And as to why we are here today." Iruka continued launching into his speech mode.

"Starting from today you are all official ninja's but, you are all still Genin. It's going to get harder from here. Once your instructors feel you are ready you will start taking mission outside of the village. You will be required to escort nobles, to protect merchants, or even to deliver messages to allied hidden villages. There is a decent chance that you will be required to fight of bandits while protecting a caravan or even enemy ninja. In order for you to learn decent teamwork and develop the skill you need for these missions you will all be put in groups of three where you will accomplish missions under a Jounin rank teacher."

Looking around the class of students he had trained for the last couple of years he noted their surprise at being put in groups. They had started talking excitedly the moment he had let that part of the announcement slip, all of them wondering whom they would be teamed up with. _'Well might as well leave the rest of my speech for the Jounin teaching them'._

"All right listen up. Team 1..." Iruka announced to the class capturing the attention of most of them immediately.

_-A few__ minutes later-_

"Next, Team 7. Uchiha Sasuke." Suddenly nearly every single female in the class that hadn't left with their team yet was paying full attention. It had become so silent that one could hear a pin drop. Nearly every single one of them wanted to be in his team. The Uchiha was good looking, the number one rookie and a talented ninja who had somehow attracted his own female fan club, to this day it still baffled Naruto how he did it since he was usually found either training or brooding and ignored everyone as much as he could.

"Inuzuka Kiba" Iruka continued somewhat nervously seeing the stares of the girls intensifying probably hoping to influence his announcement that way, and throwing jealous glares at Kiba.

Kiba a member of the Inuzuka clan who trained dogs for battle and ended up with some doglike tendencies to boot, groaned rather loudly muttering softly to his young ninja dog Akamaru. Iruka wasn't sure but it sounded like something among the lines of cursing his bad luck at being stuck with the stuck up Uchiha. "And Yamanaka Ino."

A shriek of joy loud enough to make a banshee recoil in shock and cover its ears (like everyone in Konoha was probably doing right about now) followed nearly immediately after. She was a member of the Yamanaka clan who where known for their specialty Jutsu which allows them to take control over someone else's mind for a short while.

"Take that forehead girl; I got Sasuke, now it's only a matter of time before he falls in love with me!" Ino taunted her old friend turned love rival for the Uchiha's affections while swinging her hair around.

Sakura was prevented from retaliating to her words when Iruka continued undaunted with practiced ease.

"Your Jounin Sensei will be Sarutobi Asuma." An apparently lazy Jounin with a short trimmed ring beard and an utterly lazy expression on his face entered the room and motioned for the newly instated team 7 to follow him outside.

"Next, Team 8. Haruno Sakura, Akimichi Chouji and Aburame Shino." Iruka announced as soon as the door closed behind them, it almost seemed like he feared to be interrupted again.

The horror at his announcement was quite plainly visible on the face of the beautiful Haruno girl, while her new teammates seemed completely indifferent to the news. Unlike her new partners she didn't come from a renowned family and she didn't possess a cool bloodline like them. Her parents where merchants who never really understood her drive to become a ninja but they had supported her every step of the way anyway.

Chouji a rather _'big boned'_ boy who could be seen eating twenty-four hours a day continued doing exactly that from his ever present and apparently bottomless bag of chips so he could keep up his energy as he put it, and Shino who was the heir to one of Konoha's most powerful clans thanks to their bloodline ability which allows them to use killer bugs in battle, showed as much emotion as he ever did, he raised an eyebrow over the sunglasses he never seemed to take off, apparently processing what he heard and went back to conversing with the bug on his hand.

"Your Jounin Sensei will be Yuuhi Kurenai, due to circumstances she won't be able to meet you here but will be waiting for you three in training ground twelve in one hour from now." Iruka continued.

Having received their orders Team 8 was dismissed to make their way to the said training ground, followed in the shadows by their new sensei who wanted to see how her new team interacted.

"Since Team 9 already exists, the three of you that are left will be Team 10 and your Jounin Teacher will be Mitarashi Anko who said she's meet you at training ground Ten in an hour since she was still busy with shouting at your gramps Naruto." Iruka finished with a smile.

Naruto who hadn't been paying much attention to what was happening since he hadn't heard his name yet was surprised to discover there were only three of them left. And apparently the other two ended up being his teammates. Looking around the room as to determine who the people he was going to team up with, his eyes fell on the shy girl next to him. She was shy, timid had dark hair and fascinating lavender colored eyes.

Those eyes were the signature that made her clan instantly recognizable since they held the power of a special ability that was passed down by her families' blood. Kenamo had once told him that it allowed them to see in nearly 360 degrees range and to see the inner chakra coil system of a person. Her clan was respected and feared all around for the Gentle Fist technique they had developed to exploit their unique ability. As he wasn't a member of a clan the details weren't known to him but it was said they possessed the skill to kill a man with that technique without leaving a single mark on the body.

Hyuuga Hinata as one of his new teammates was called was the complete opposite of the rest of her clan, while they were arrogant, proud and walked around if they owned the place no matter where they were, she was shy, timid and preferred to stay as far away from the spotlight as humanly possible. How she actually turned out that way in a family like hers was beyond him, but he didn't mind at all. The last thing he wanted was someone as stuck up as the Uchiha in his team.

"Ne, Hinata are you okay?" Naruto asked slightly confused while laying a hand on her head to check for a fever. It didn't matter that he didn't have a clue as to how to tell if she actually did, but he figured since his gramps could always tell whether or not he had one, he would find out by that motion somehow as well. This proved to be too much for the poor girl who had been growing steadily more embarrassed while the object of her affections kept staring at her. The moment his hand made contact she did the only reasonable thing she could at the time… she fainted.

* * *

Coming back around Hinata stared around confused at the change of scenery. Unlike the classroom she'd been at as she expected to find herself in, she saw a large dark room, sporting several large doors. Taking in her surroundings recognition dawned on her face, she found herself once again in what she assumed was a part of her mindscape.

On her right was a large solid oak door standing slightly ajar allowing a narrow beam of light to filter trough, slightly illuminating the room she was in. This door she knew from previous encounters with the room would take her back to her consciousness, back to her class and… even here in her own mind she was inventing new shades of red as she remembered her reason for passing out.

Naruto had been staring at her! Not one of her beautiful classmates like Ino or Sakura but at her! Admitted though she was the only girl left in the class, Ino and Sakura had left before with their new teams.

He had probably just been lost in thought, only looking at her direction by coincidence not even noticing her at all. She reasoned to herself dejectedly.

"_Don't put yourself down like that!"_ She mentally scolded herself fiercely. _"You have Naruto in your team now, without any other girls to steal him away from you!"_

Cheering up at her own mental scolding she got back to the matter at hand. She was still stuck in her mindscape after all. She knew what she had to do to get back, but like many times before one of the other doors in the room fascinated her. It was even larger than the others, made of thick steel and shut tight by a very complicated looking seal. An ominous yet comforting feeling emanated from it, it felt peculiar and she couldn't really put it to thoughts that justified it.

Ever since the first time she had arrived in this particular part of her mindscape, the seal had fascinated her and so she took it on herself to scan trough her family library and the public ones trying to find out what it meant. She had searched everything she could get her hands on but apart from getting a little knowledge on the basics, it hadn't done her any good. Apparently sealing Jutsu was mainly restricted information only available to ninja who had gotten permission to study it.

None of the scrolls concerning the particular brand of techniques contained a seal even remotely as complicated as the one she was looking at right now however. She had only been able to identify one small part of the seal after much research; it appeared to be some sort of a trigger. This discovery let her to believe the door would open one day once a certain event had taken place. Perhaps she had to master a certain family Jutsu, or she might have to reach a certain age, or it could be something else altogether. And even then there was no guarantee that she was correct and the door would open, for that up to now she could only guess.

A faraway sound coming from the other door leading back to her consciousness drew her attention away from the mystery that had been plaguing her for so long. She couldn't be sure since it sounded so far away but it almost sounded like Naruto worriedly calling out her name.

"_Naruto is worried about me?"_ She thought incredulously. With that thought set firmly in her mind she completely forgot about the sealed door for now and hurried back to her consciousness so she could ease their worries and let them know she was okay.

* * *

"Hinata! Time to wake up! Hinata! Are you alright!?" Having rushed through the open door of her sub-consciousness she was slowly coming to, confirming that it was indeed Naruto who was calling her name worriedly.

"Man this is so troublesome" She heard the unmistakable voice of Shikamaru from her right. "Sensei will be here in ten minutes…"

"_Ten minutes!" _Thinking back to Iruka-sensei's words earlier she recalled him saying that their Jounin instructor would be awaiting them at one of the training grounds in one hour. She was shocked as she realized she'd been out cold for nearly fifty minutes. No wonder Naruto-kun was worried about her! Quickly pulling herself back to full awareness she tried to place her feet under herself in order to get up, only to find the ground was missing. Finally she became aware of the strong arms placed under her knees and armpits.

"_Naruto-kun is carrying me bridal style!"_ The realization hit her like a ton of bricks causing her earlier blush to reappear with a vengeance, she felt that if possible she was coloring even more then when she passed out initially.

Immediately noticing the color returning to her pale complexion, Naruto who had been staring at her quite intently while trying to bring her to; gently set her back down. Making sure to support her until he could make sure she could stand on her own strength again.

She battled fiercely against her own embarrassment so she wouldn't pass out again as she noticed Naruto wasn't letting go of her. She heard a deep breath escape his mouth as she balanced herself out again.

"Oi Hinata you are okay!" Naruto remarked happily as he saw she seemed to be alright again. Just as she was about to nod in acknowledgement his next question stopped every single though that was coursing through her mind up short.

"Ne, why did you pass out?" He had asked her sounding confused.

"A..a…ano Na….na…ruto-kun." She was reduced to a nervous stutter, praying that the ground would just swallow her whole, so she would be spared the embarrassment of answering his question. Thankfully for her someone seemed to have heard her prayers as their Sensei decided that that exact moment would be perfect to show up.

**"Alright short stuff follow me!"** Anko shouted looking straight at Naruto only to sprint away from them immediately after.

**"I'm not short!" **Naruto shouted at her in immediate response. He always had been a bit touchy about his height or rather the lack of it. He removed his hand from Hinata's back so he could rush after his new sensei in immediate pursuit.

* * *

Author's note:

It seems that my previous author's note scared of some people from reviewing considering the story is on alert for about 3 times as many people as that reviewed. Not that I mind don't get me wrong but I do like to know what the readers think of the story. Suggestions you have or mistakes I made that you noticed or something along the lines of: Good story; are all apreciated

Anyway allow me to redifine my notion of a flame. The only kind of review I consider to be a flame is one like: This sucks!! or something along those lines. Or basicly just a blatand insult without any kind of argument to support as to why the reader found the story sucked.

Considering this is my first attempt on a story I really believe reviews with constructive critisism or just suggestions will help me to improve my writing.

As a closing note (noone likes long author's notes :-p) I hope you enjoy the story so far and you'll tune in for the next chapter once it's posted.


End file.
